Lola, TonyDanza, Gumbo, Water, YP, Women's Voices

The Pets: Well we have been adjusting to our larger family. Lola and TonyDanza are getting along better…there is a lot less hissing and staring! They are playing back and forth but still a little unsure of each other!

Dickinson Activities: Last night, Dan and I went to the API Gumbo Cook-off. It was something that neither one of us had ever experienced. The amount of people that were there was amazing, we meet Kim and Jack there and tried as many gumbo variations as we could. Some of the gumbos were so good with shrimp, chicken, and sausage and some were greasy or fishy! Ugh! Afterwards we went to Mavericks and watched an acoustic guitar player.

This week at the YP General Meeting, I was voted as recruitment officer of the YP group. I’m excited about the opportunities that are in front of me and hope to raise awareness and group numbers up by 100%. I have to brainstorm how I’m going to do this and make it a point to expose the possibilities in leadership that Dickinson has!

Home Improvements: Dan’s dad came and installed the waterline for our fridge. We have ICE CUBES! Hooray! He also brought our bathroom shower fixture, I can’t wait to get it out of the box and on the wall!

Next week: Tomorrow is the YP Chili Cook-off. It’s the first big recruitment event that I’ve been a part of since we’ve moved to Dickinson. I’m hoping that Dan will be done at a decent time so that he can attend. Katie (BC Coordinator at the Strom Center) and I are cooking chili, I’m not expecting to take the chili trophy home. On Saturday, I’m planning on attending the Women’s Voices Tea and photo exhibit, which celebrates women who broke career barriers. They will later be featured on a panel on March 3rd, with the youngest panel member being my grandmother; I’m excited to see the inspiration of the session.

Our family has GROWN!

We are so excited to share Lola with everyone. I decided to get Daniel his own kitty for Valentine’s Day! We adopted from Oreo’s Animal Rescue in Dickinson. She was rescued from the pound and won Daniel’s heart at the shelter almost immediately.
She is very petite, mostly white with orange spots on her head and her back. She matched TonyDanza very well! She is a bundle of energy and loves to be petted! TonyDanza isn’t 100% sure about her; the first night was a lot of hisses and sulking in a corner watching her. Lola seems to think she owns the place. She goes wherever she wants and runs right up to TonyDanza. They have started playing a bit today but are still testing the waters with each other! In fact, yesterday they both received baths! That might have helped their bonding because Dan and I were their common enemy!

The pictures are of Lola and TonyDanza...there is even one of Kim holding Lola on her first night at her new home! The one below is of Dan and her after Lola's first bath!

Snow Day!

I have found out that my Aunt Janice is a LIAR! When Dan and I first moved to Bismarck, she said it never snows in Dickinson. I don’t believe a word she says anymore!

The rain started yesterday about noon and the snow started at 3:00ish….it came down in huge flakes. In fact Kim caught me cleaning the snow off my car and throwing it on her car….which results in a snowball fight! Today, I woke up to the news of the campus closed because of the snow and I-94 has been closed all day and will continue through the night, in fact the plows are being pulled from the roads at sundown! Dan and I had quality time today while we shoveled the driveways and sidewalk. We have decided 2 important things in our life—we won’t buy another corner lot and if we ever move into the country, we will need to buy a bobcat. I took some photos of the snow last night after I got home from work and then I took some this morning. TonyDanza doesn’t mind the snow…he’s been licking it off our shoes and shovels!

New Fridge!

It’s official…Home improvement projects have started! We got our new fridge! Hooray! Compared to our old one it’s GI-normous! Jack and Kim brought it over early and we’ve had it since Wednesday night! This has been the first project. This week we also had Dan’s dad pick up the shower set that we picked out when we were in Bismarck. We took pictures and product numbers down so we watch for sales or specials. Some things may not go on sale, but it would be nice if the vanity would! The interesting part is the fridge is our Valentine’s Day present to each other…how romantic!

Dan taught me how to play cribbage this past weekend. I’m not the best at keeping track of points but I must not be too bad of player, I beat him a couple of times! We also went to “Paul Blart, Mall Cop” at the Dickinson Cinema 3. It wasn’t as nice a theater as Bismarck, here’s hoping the new theater goes up in Dickinson quickly! Dan really liked the movie and is looking forward to seeing it again. I thought it had some cute parts but was impressed that it wasn’t as crude as I thought it could be. I miss smart, witty movies…Where have they all gone?

Dan has been so busy with work. I was joking that he hasn’t had the chance to blog yet and he said his blog would go like this—“today I worked then slept. Tomorrow I will work and then sleep. Later I will sleep and maybe play video games but then I will have to work” Because of this change over to digital, Dish has been very busy. He is scheduled to work 6 days with Saturday being his only days off.

Super Bowl, Legislature, and Kenmore!

Today was Super Bowl. Dan is not happy with the results. He was hoping for the Cardinals to take the game and not get ripped off on the last play of the game. Kim, Jack, Lenny, and Miranda came over for the game. We had chicken poppers, Swedish meatballs, snack mix, chicken tortilla soup, vegetable tray, spinach dip, cheese ball, and Dan’s homemade apple pie. I was disappointed in “the Boss” at the half time show. Ugh what was he (and the rest of the E street band) thinking? He should have started with “Glory Days” and ended with “Born in the USA”.

Dan and I made a quick trip to Bismarck on Friday. I (and Lenny) had a booth at the capitol for Rural Development Day where we represented SW ND and the Strom Center. I have not seen part of the capitol or the legislative session since I was in grade school. I sat in on a session and am impressed with the possibility of the process. The class from Williston, that is actively seeking a new law that won’t allow adults to smoke in a vehicle with kids, is inspiring. I like that they are playing active roles in the leadership and future of the state. The worst thing I saw on Friday was at our booth, a man had stopped to talk and ask about the Strom Center. He picked up Lenny’s business card and put it in his mouth. He apologized because he had a nut in this tooth that needed to come out! I couldn’t believe this—what a shmuck! And to think…this person has some political power! Scary!

Dan and I are excited for our fridge to come on Friday. We bought a Kenmore side by side with water and ice in the door from Sears. We are excited to have more room and ice. Jack is bringing it over the fridge home once it comes in on Friday! We are looking forward to Deb and Dan coming out at the end of February to put the water works together and share our plans for the bathroom with them. We are thinking to take them out to the Gumbo cook-off, which I heard is a big deal in Dickinson.